The Amazing Properties of Glass-Ceramics (GC Part 1)
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters cite it as an accessible demonstration of zero-expansion materials when discussing telescope mirrors, Pyrex, and low-expansion glass cooktops.
Recommended by 2 people across 2 different months, 2025 to 2026.
What it is
Huygens Optics explains how glass-ceramics such as Zerodur and Corning's products achieve near-zero thermal expansion. It covers thermal shock experiments, what the coefficient of thermal expansion is, a CTE measurement experiment, crystallization and nucleation, and light scattering by crystallites.
What people said
Recommends shrx · 2025-09 · Hacker News · on “PYREX vs. pyrex: What's the difference?”
If you're interested in learning more about zero-expansion materials, Huygens Optics has a great video series on youtube: [this video]
Recommends throwaway219450 · 2026-10 · Hacker News · on “What on Earth Is Dekton?”
The article misses an important bit of context (imo) that low thermal expansion glasses like CERAN have been around for ages and anyone who’s used an induction or a glass top stove would be familiar. However you can now get completely hidden stoves that look like stone countertops. If you’re not in the market for a kitchen, or know anyone people who recently remodeled it’s reasonable to not know they exist. I don’t know anyone with one, and everyone in our town still has gas. The author doesn’t explain which one they were buying, but it seems like the latter? Normal induction glass top stoves are a unit that drops into the countertop so of course you get the glass included (because at the ve
Cites minetest2048 · 2025-06 · Hacker News · on “Giant, all-seeing telescope is set to revolutionize astronomy”
Its not your normal soda-lime glass, its more of a glass-ceramic material that have very low coefficient of thermal expansion, something like zerodur: [LINK] , which means it can keep its shape and focus even under varying temperature Interesting demo by Huygens Optics: [this video]